Will Missouri go Blue?

[Redstate Bluegirl]

My home state went very narrowly for McCain last time. But I think Obama has an excellent chance of carrying it this year. They don't call it the "Show Me" state for nothing, and Romney hasn't shown ANYTHING to make righties motivate their asses to the polls in Nov!

[phasma ex machina]

1. Anybody with eyes can plainly see that Romney's a bankster sock puppet.

[Art_from_Ark]

2. If St. Louis, Kansas City and Columbia can overcome the rest of the state

then Missouri might go blue. When all is said and done, I think that the southern part of the state will still go for the Republican nominee, regardless of his closeted skeletons.

[Tx4obama]

3. If enough people come out and VOTE for the Democrats then it will go blue ...

same goes with all of the other states

[protect our future]

4. MO is no longer considered a swing state. Well, that's BS.

In '08 Obama lost here by less than one percent. That works out to one vote per precinct if I'm not mistaken.

BUT PERHAPS OBAMA ACTUALLY WON IN MISSOURI. We'll never know because, although the results qualified for a recount, the votes were not recounted because by then Obama had won the election.

And no one made a stink about what happened in Kansas City. See, in KC, when the polls opened in the early morning, it was discovered that some of the ledgers (or whatever you call them, with the voter rolls) had been delivered to the wrong precincts. It was rectified 1-1/2 hours to 2 hours later, and supposedly no votes were lost ... but I cannot believe that. Depended on how many precincts had the balls to make a written record of the voters that were present, to be straightened out later. Depended on how many voters, in all the confusion, left without voting due to work requirements. And was anyone at all voting while the books were being collected from the wrong precincts and delivered to the right ones? We'll never know.

MO has a Dem governor and a Dem AG although the state legislature is solid red. KC, St. Louis, Columbia, and a couple of other little areas can make the state go blue, and this sometimes happens. We have a recently-elected Dem US Senator who may lose her seat this time ... but she's smart, and things could turn around. Oh, to top it all off, there's a one percenter (named Rex Sinquefield) who has gotten garbage put on the ballot which, if passed (it didn't), could have destroyed Kansas City. He's at it again, I hear.

I have heard the Democratic Party is not going to put money into the effort here since the state is supposedly solid red. If true, too bad. I think that's not very wise. Maybe they are cowed by the fact that in Jefferson City, our capitol, cross-hairs were placed on the doors of several female Dems.

[The Genealogist]

5. A view from Springfield, MO

I don't think Missouri will go blue anytime soon. I think it is getting more conservative every year. I know I am sitting in the heart of red Missouri here, but overall, I think Missouri is getting redder and redder. I know Obama did pretty well here for a Dem in 2008, but considering Obama won INDIANA that year and a vote from NEBRASKA, I think the good numbers Obama got here were due to a very blue year. Obama will do fairly well in KC and St Louis, and maybe Columbia, but that is about it. I guess if the Repukes screw things up bad enough, it could flip. But it is going to take something that makes the clown car antics to date look downright sane and civil. It would take AMAZING turnout, I think, to flip Missouri blue. I do hate to see the dems just write off the state. I know they have to be careful about where they spend their cash, but it would be nice to put a little attention on Missouri.

[protect our future]

6. Glad to have your input!

What is happening in your part of the state to make you say it's getting more conservative? Local media, radio stations, ltte's, other sources of news seeming to be more conservative and redder? Any info you could add about this could give us a handle on what to do to change things.

I'm encouraged by the nationwide grumbling about Blunt's sponsorship of the "birth control is a sin" amendment and hope the grumbling turns into a roar. That could help us bigtime.

And don't throw in the towel just yet. The final clown from the clown car will be up against a master strategist and the rest of the genius "chess players" who might make 2012 another national blue year.

[archiemo]

7. Good example...Hartzler defeats Skelton

I live in rural Cass County (just south of the KC metro) and witnessed a religious, conservative-puppet for the RNC, defeat a very moderate, pro-military, voted against Obama's healthcare act, Democrat in Ike Skelton in 2010. He had the seat for decades and won with strong margins every year until that happened. Was also endorsed by the NRA.

I've received one mailer from Hartzler since she's taken office that was supposed to highlight the great legislative efforts she's put forward since taking office. There were three. Each and everyone were related to guns.

[protect our future]

10. 2010 = the year of the tea party

Since then much of the country has been experiencing buyer's remorse.

[Art_from_Ark]

8. Springfield, in Greene County, is super conservative

They don't vote Democratic. Its Congressional district (7th, SW Missouri) has had a Republican representative since 1961! That's even longer than Arkansas' 3rd district (1967)!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missouri's_7th_congressional_district

During the 2008 election, the only county in the 7th district that had more than 40% of the vote go to Obama was Greene County-- at 41%! Every other county was around 30% for Obama.

[The Genealogist]

11. Trust me, I know

I was born in Springfield, and have lived here for all but 6 of my 38 years. Even the colleges are not particularly liberal for colleges. Indeed, we have a few religious colleges that are very conservative. There are precincts in Springfield that are quite blue. My state rep is a Dem, and her district is demographically fairly blue. In the 2010 election, not a single county-level dem won election. The city council is fairly conservative, though I don't think as conservative as the city as a whole. The council elections are non-partisan, so sometimes we have more liberal people sneak through the cracks, but we also have right libertarians.

One recent thing that shows how conservative it has gotten here is an E-verify requirement for employers, written by the Ozarks Minutemen (!) passed. Story on that here http://ozarksfirst.com/fulltext?nxd_id=599902 . This is a very xenophobic, unfair law, so bad that the city council was begging people please not to vote for it. Even the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce was against it. There are parts so shamelessly nasty that they are patently illegal. The law was passed, and the council can't do much about it now except spend city funds trying to defend the illegal unconstitutional thing. Roy Blunt and John Ashcroft are from here; people like them are common in these parts.

Last year, time and money were expended on adding "In God We Trust" to the county seal, once the all-RW county commissioners got into office. http://www.news-leader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2011106210341 . We have all kinds of problems, such as homelessness, joblessness, infrastructure issues, we've had shortages for fire and police protection, and we have RWers injecting religion into government instead of tackling issues.

I'm not even going to get into the crap that has gone on in the Springfield suburbs like Republic, MO.

It has always been conservative here, and there has been some stupid local controversies drummed up by the local RWers. But this kind of stuff--xenophobic and illegal laws passed, forcing religion down the people's throats on this level for instance--is becoming more common.

[Jazzgirl]

12. I spent my young and teenage years in Springfield.

My brother was born there. I left there as soon as I could because there is nothing there for young people or progressives. I do know quite a few progressives there but most people I know are very red. I have no intention of ever living in that town ever again.

[Art_from_Ark]

13. I once spent a week at a Pentecostal bible camp in Springfield

(I was invited by a classmate).

That was quite an experience

[libinnyandia]

9. Nader's vote total was greater than McCain's margin of victory in 2008.

[pstokely]

14. Depends on how much Dems spend in the state, it's not one of the early targets But neither are other

But neither are other states he narrowly lost. It's must win for the Repukes, but not Obama. Polls have been close.

[Ichingcarpenter]

15. The Garden of Eden is in Missouri

according to Mitt's religion.


Jackson County almost went blue last election.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garden_of_Eden#Jackson_County.2C_Missouri.2C_North_America

[pstokely]

16. Jackson County always goes blue, it's a Dem stronghold outside of the far eastern part

[libtodeath]

17. If Santorum

is the nominee I think there is a chance all but a few of the most racist ones will go for President Obama this year.